The Scout Report - November 6, 1998

The Scout Report

November 6, 1998

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators. However, everyone is welcome to subscribe to one of the mailing lists (plain text or HTML). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.

An Acrobat .pdf version of this report is available for printing and distributing locally. For information on Adobe Acrobat Reader, visit the Adobe site.

In This Issue:

New From Internet Scout

Subject Specific Reports

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

Where Are They Now

New From Internet Scout

Internet Scout's K12-Newsletters
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/K12-news/index.html
To subscribe to the mailing list, send email to:
   listserv@cs.wisc.edu
In the body of the message, type:
   subscribe k12newsletters YourFirstName YourLastName
Or visit http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/ and subscribe online.

Internet Scout's K12-Newsletters mailing list now has a Website. K12-Newsletters, a service produced for Internet Scout by Gleason Sackman since April 1998, is an off-shoot of Scout's popular Net-happenings mailing list and Website. K12-Newsletters aims to capture the best of the Internet's K12 education-oriented newsletters in one place. Current Newsletters being posted are Algebra Times, ASCD Bulletin, Blue Web'n Update, Bonus Points for 7-12 Educators, OnlineClass, Education World Newsletter, Geography Newsletter, Innovative Teaching, KIDS KLICKS, Lesson Stop, Net-Mom News, Surfing the Net with Kids, ThinkQuest, and THIS WEEK'S TOP ACADEMIC INTERNET RESEARCH SITES. The Website features current postings, archives, and subscription information. [TK]
[Back to Contents]

Subject Specific Reports

Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/
The fourth issue of the second volumes of the Scout Report for Social Sciences is available. The In the News section of the Social Sciences Report annotates twelve resources on the recent US Elections. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/
The fourth issue of the second volumes of the Scout Report Business & Economics is available. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section annotates ten resources on the G7 Plan for Financial Reform. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Research and Education

The MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences [Frames]
http://cognet.mit.edu/MITECS/
The MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences (MITECS), an electronic publication of the MIT Press, is a new comprehensive reference work that encompasses the diverse theories and methodologies of the cognitive and brain sciences. The encyclopedia contains 471 specialized articles by preeminent researchers and scholars; articles include extensive bibliographies and provide multiple cross-references. MITECS spans six major topics: Philosophy; Psychology; Neuroscience; Computational Intelligence; Linguistics and Language; and Culture, Cognition, and Evolution. The introductory essays that precede each major section discuss topics within the larger framework of the cognitive sciences. The encyclopedia may be browsed by an author or a topic index, and the entire work is searchable by keyword. Please note that first-time users of the encyclopedia are required to register at the site; necessary registration information includes email address, full name, and research interests. [AO]
[Back to Contents]

Superfund Risk Assessment Homepage--EPA [.pdf]
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/risk/index.htm
This new Environmental Protection Agency site helps all interested "stakeholders," from risk professionals to the general public evaluate the risks posed by hazardous waste sites. The site is organized into several sections, each aimed at users with a different level of knowledge. The Human Health and Ecological sections offer information for both professionals and the general public on assessing health risks to humans and the environment. Users without a technical background will appreciate the Basics subsection of each, which contains fact sheets and overviews. Each section also includes links to a number of tools and publications aimed at communities as well as individuals. The Tools of the Trade and Calculation Tools sections provide Risk Professionals with guidance and policy documents, databases, software, and other technical tools. Users are free to submit questions, and a collection of FAQs is also provided. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Biz/ed Virtual Factory
http://bized.ac.uk/virtual/home.htm
Biz/ed (described in the Scout Report for September 20, 1996) has created the Virtual factory to give students an opportunity to apply their production, accounting, and marketing skills to real life business situations. Currently, students can "tour" and learn about the Cameron Balloons Virtual Factory with worksheets, photos, relevant studies, and explanations of each main business function. A general company history, product costs, and a glossary of technical terms are also provided to heighten learning, and instructors may benefit from a Teacher's Guide and offline copy available for download. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

Pacific Archaeology Teaching Project [Quicktime]
http://artalpha.anu.edu.au/nobarriers/
This site hosts an interesting online teaching project connected with the excavation of a remote site in the Republic of Vanuatu. For a number of reasons, it would be impracticable to bring a large number of students to the excavation, so this site was create to allow them to track and discuss the developments of the project. Although the site was designed and created for students at the Australian National University and Vanuatu High Schools, other teachers and students studying archaeology, especially Pacific archaeology, will find much of interest and potential use. The site includes background information from earlier digs at the site and project coordinator Matthew Spriggs' 1997 book The Island Melanesians, field data and diaries, photographs of artifacts, Quicktime panorama images of the site, and email discussion logs. A bibliography, related links, and an overview of the technologies used for the project round out the site. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Combating Racism and Intolerance [.pdf, Quicktime]
http://www.ecri.coe.int/
Provided by the Council of Europe, this site offers a number of resources for individuals and organizations fighting racism and promoting tolerance. For instance, because "international law has become such a powerful means of combatting discrimination," the Legal Framework section provides the text of international legal instruments and a report on [European] national legal measures. The Council of Europe section introduces the organization and its key resolutions, recommendations, and speeches. In the Educational Resources section, users will find a list of relevant publications, a cartoon book (also downloadable in .pdf format), video clips, and other material geared toward younger audiences. Additional resources include an overview of "good practices" in policy initiatives by Council of Europe member states and an online Forum (currently under construction). The site is also available in French. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Marine Species Index--MBL
http://database.mbl.edu/SPECIMENS/phylum.taf?function=form&page=2
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) of Woods Hole, Massachusetts maintains this database of "approximately 210 invertebrates and fish" that are collected or maintained by the MBL. The database is organized by phyla, and users may search for general information on Sponges, Polyps/Medusae, Comb Jellies, Flatworms, Ribbon Worms, Arrow Worms, Bryozoans, Mollusks, Peanut Worms, Arthropods, Echinoderms, Acorn Worms, or Chordates. In addition to the brief summaries, color photographs provide visual examples for each phylum, and a "derivation" box defines the origin of each name. Beginning students will find this site a helpful reference. [LXP]
[Back to Contents]

National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature
http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/
The National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature (NRCBL), located at Georgetown University's Kennedy Institute of Ethics, maintains the "world's largest collection related to ethical issues in medicine and biomedical research." Among other services, the NRCBL's Website helps researchers, teachers, and students find resources on bioethics topics. Bibliographies of recent literature cover special topics such as Assisted Suicide/Right to Die and Cloning, materials in the NRCBL's Kampelman Collection of Jewish Ethics, and more general resources. A series of Scope Notes (accessed through the Ethics and Human Genetics section) provides background notes and citations to literature on selected topics. Visitors to the site can also link to universities with programs in Bioethics, the Bioethicsline bibliographic database, a catalog of course syllabi available for purchase through the Center, and other Internet resources. [GW]
[Back to Contents]

H-AFRPOL: H-Net List on Current African Politics
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~afrpol/
To subscribe send e-mail to:
   LISTSERV@h-net.msu.edu
In the body of the message, type:
   SUBSCRIBE H-AFRPOL firstname lastname, institution

This new H-Net (described in the Scout Report for June 14, 1996) sponsored discussion list is aimed at scholars, students, diplomats, and others with a serious academic interest in current African politics. The list will focus "on both strategic-level and practical issues involving political system development and viability, the democratizing process, the roles of external humanitarian and political intervention, and those indigenous traditional political elements which enrich and complicate modern political life in Africa." Submissions will be accepted regarding sub- and supra-Saharan nations as well as adjacent islands. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

General Interest

1998 Revision of the World Population Estimates and Projections--UN
http://www.popin.org/pop1998/
The United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN) recently released the 1998 revised estimates and projections for the world population, which currently stands at 5.9 billion and expands at 1.33 percent per year (about 78 million). This site offers a briefing packet which highlights all of the major findings of the 1998 revision with text and tables. POPIN reports a declining global fertility rate, but perhaps their most striking finding concerns the effect of AIDS/HIV on African population rates, especially in sub-Saharan countries such as Botswana and Zimbabwe, where one in four and one in five adults respectively are infected. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Junior Summit: Ambassadors of a New Digital Culture
http://www.jrsummit.net/
MIT's Media Lab is hosting the second Junior Summit, an effort that connects more than 900 children (ages ten to sixteen) from all over the world in computer discussions of major world issues affecting children. These discussions will then culminate in a meeting of select child ambassadors at MIT the week of November 15-21, 1998. The idea behind the summit is that children need to participate in global decision-making about the future and the many social and environmental issues confronting all of us. The participating children summarize issues addressed in discussions in reports, which are accessible from the homepage. Topics include how to prevent homelessness, how to get people to be concerned about the environment, and how to use technology to improve education, among many others. Children from wealthy and poor countries alike submitted applications to participate; those without technical resources were given opportunities via donated equipment to their local school or other community center. [JR]
[Back to Contents]

Theodore Roosevelt: Icon of the American Century
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/roosevelt/index.htm
The National Portrait Gallery presents this visual biography of Theodore Roosevelt, focused on his adult life and political career, 1882-1919. Using the collections of the National Portrait Gallery and those of Sagamore Hill and Manhatten historic sites, the exhibition consists of portraits, photographs, and political cartoons featuring Teddy Roosevelt and his friends, family, and colleagues. The exhibition has an introduction and three sections: Maverick in the Making, 1882-1901; Rough Rider in the White House, 1901-1909; and The Restless Hunter, 1909-1919. It's not immediately obvious how to proceed through the exhibition. Each section begins with an introductory text and an image. A list of images/topics appears on the left, but no apparent navigational buttons accompany them. Instead, select the first item from the list on the left to enter the picture portion of each section. Once there, you will see the images and their captions, and these displays do include forward and back arrows for navigation. [DS]
[Back to Contents]

The Great War: 80 Years On--BBC [RealPlayer]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/10/98/world_war_i/newsid_197000/197437.stm
November 11 marks the 80th anniversary of the armistice that ended "the war to end all wars," a conflict which took as many as ten million lives, wiped out a generation of young men in Europe, and helped to spark a revolution in Russia. This new site from the BBC commemorates the war and offers users a number of interesting resources. Multimedia offerings include a ten-minute video collage of photos and newsreel footage produced by the Imperial War Museum and a selection of fascinating and poignant audio interviews of veterans, including one man who was just fourteen when he left to fight in France. The site also contains a selection of soldiers' letters home, overviews of four major battles (Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme, and Passchendaele), and a number of topical articles. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/smhtml/smhome.html
American Sheet Music, 1870-1885 is an addition to the American Memory Collection of digitized historical materials at the Library of Congress. In 1870, the US Congress passed copyright legislation that required the deposit of one copy of any copyrighted work at the Library of Congress. As a result, thousands of pieces of music were sent to the Library of Congress, and in 1896, the Library established its Music Collection with 400,000 items. The online collection currently includes 22,000 musical compositions that were registered for copyright between 1870 and 1879. Both catalog records and digital images of the sheet music are available, allowing users to search or browse by author, title, or subject, and view the complete musical notation. Descriptions of any illustrations on the sheet music are not included in the catalog records, so pictures can only be located by browsing. The Library plans to add an additional 23,000 titles to the online sheet music collection in the fall of 1999. [DS]
[Back to Contents]

College is Possible
http://www.CollegeIsPossible.org/
Created by the Coalition of America's Colleges, this site is offered as a guide for parents and students to information and advice on higher education, especially with regard to financial matters. The site is composed of three primary sections: Preparing for College, Choosing the Right College, and Paying for College. The first offers a ten-step guide (beginning with pre-school), recommended Secondary School courses, and an electronic and print Resource Library. The second section features a helpful College Admissions and Financial Aid Calendar, which guides parents and students through the steps they should take beginning with the freshman year in High School. Another Resource Library in this section points to more information. The final and probably most important section offers a number of resources concerning financial aid programs and paying for college, including an overview of financial aid programs and some FAQs. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Places of Peace and Power
http://www.sacredsites.com/
Martin Gray, an anthropologist with a keen interest in sacred sites and pilgrimage traditions, created this site to share photographs and descriptions of some of the 900 sacred sites in 40 countries that he has visited. Gray's interpretation of "sacred site" is not bounded by any particular religion or creed, and along with sites that one would expect such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mecca, and Dome of the Rock, users will find photos and descriptions of Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Devil's Tower, and Easter Island. Text passages vary in length according to the site, but all are well-written and informative. Gray is currently in the last leg of a one-year tour of Central and South American sacred sites, and three updates and photos from the field are currently available. Additional resources at the site include several chapters and the bibliography from Gray's book, which shares the title of his Website, and a collection of briefly annotated related links. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Rolling Stone Radio [RealPlayer G2]
http://www.rsradio.com/
Rolling Stone Radio is a fun and interesting site that may represent the future of Internet radio. The site provides a number of streaming audio channels that can be listened to via RealNetworks' RealPlayer G2 combined with a customized, radio-like interface to the site. Each channel features a particular genre of music, and the interface displays the artist and song title during play. The sound quality ranges from acceptable to excellent, and the sound controls and channel selectors are easy-to-use. While the site borders on the exploitative in its advertising and ability to purchase music by clicking through the interface, it does combine some of the best ideas on the Internet into a seamless entertainment package. All downloadable components of this site are free but run only on Win95/98/NT. [CL]
[Back to Contents]

Network Tools

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 Beta
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie5/?/windows/ie/ie5/main.htm
Microsoft has recently released the latest version of its Internet Explorer (IE), 5.0 Beta. Although Microsoft is aiming the release at developers for "technical evaluation," anyone is, of course, free to download it and give it a try. The most prominent new feature in IE 5.0 Beta is IntelliSense, which is designed to save users' time by "automating routine tasks and simplifying complex tasks." To this end, IntelliSense performs tasks such as determining network status, typing URLs, and filling in Web forms and also allows users to control access for small children. New features aimed at developers and Web authors include DHTML Behaviors and improved support for Document Object Model (DOM), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and Extensible Markup Language (XML). [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Four on Linux
LinuxPPC: Q4 1998 Releases
http://www.linuxppc.org/
MkLinux
http://www.mklinux.apple.com/
LinuxWorld
http://www.linuxworld.com/
CNET Special Report
http://coverage.cnet.com/Content/Reports/Trends/Linux/
Linux is a stable, relatively adaptable Operating System (OS) that has been distributed for free since its creation by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Since then, Torvalds has coordinated further development of this system by hundreds of computer professionals and hobbyists. For various reasons, this Unix clone OS has been getting quite a bit of attention lately, and some believe it could be a viable alternative to the most popular business OS, Windows NT. The first two sites will be of interest to Mac users. The first details the release schedule and features for the forthcoming LinuxPPC Release 5.0, while the second offers information and downloads of MkLinux, developed in cooperation with Apple computer and now in its first "unified" release. The third site is a new online magazine aimed principally at computer professionals, though all members of the broad Linux community are welcome. LinuxWorld offers original content articles, links to breaking news and Linux resources, and in the future, reader forums. The last site is a new special report by CNET on the "upstart OS." It considers the past and the future of Linux. [MD][PMS]
[Back to Contents]

MacOS 8.5 Application Switcher Settings
Switcher Setter
http://www.channel1.com/users/cg601/aso/
AppSwitcher Control
http://www.pascal.com/software/
Prestissimo
http://www.polymorph.net/prestissimo.html
Switcher PowerUp
http://www.mindspring.com/~sublink/swpu.html
Dock Manager
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~promac/download.html
With MacOS 8.5, Apple introduced a number of user interface enhancements. One new feature is the ability to "tear-off" the Application menu and display it in its own small, floating window (called the Application Switcher). Users can modify the Application Switcher's appearance via AppleScript, but for those of you wary of writing scripts, five freeware authors have written small applications that allow you to perform the customization through a user-friendly interface. All five allow you to customize both the appearance of the Application Switcher (e.g., window border, orientation, sort order) and the keystrokes for switching between applications. Dock Manager and Prestissimo also allow control of the new proportional scroll bar. [PMS]
[Back to Contents]

Where Are They Now

The Scout Report was not published on November 3, 1995

This feature will resume with the November 13, 1998 issue. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format.

From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format.

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, is preserved on all copies.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, or the National Science Foundation.

The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published weekly by Internet Scout
Susan Calcari
Michael de Nie
Travis Koplow
Aimee D. Glassel
Todd Hanson
Sheilah Harrington
Kathryn Harris
Christopher Lukas
Dave Mayer
Sujani Nannapaneni
Andrew Osmond
Laura X. Payne
Jeannine Ramsey
Mike Roszkowski
Paul M Schwartz
Debra Shapiro
Geraldine Wanserski
Megan Waters
Amy Tracy Wells
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
 Managing Editor
Editor
Production Editor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor

Scout Report and Scout Report HTML Subscription Instructions

  • To receive the electronic mail version of the Scout Report each week, join the scout-report mailing list. This is the only mail you will receive from this list. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.

    http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/

  • To receive the Scout Report in HTML format for local viewing and posting, subscribe to the scout-report-html mailing list, used exclusively to distribute the Scout Report in HTML format once a week. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.

    http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/

The Scout Report's Web page:

http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/

Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) versions of the Scout Report:

http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/pdf/

[Back to Contents]

Internet Scout
A Publication of the Internet Scout Project

Comments, Suggestions, Feedback
Use our feedback form or send email to scout@cs.wisc.edu.

© 1999 Internet Scout Project
Information on reproducing any publication is available on our copyright page.